Solutions

Putting Flood Waters to Work: State Expedites Efforts to Maximize Groundwater Recharge

Temporary diversion equipment provided by DWR is deployed by Fresno Irrigation District to divert excess water from Kings River to reduce flood risk and expand groundwater recharge. Photo taken April 27, 2023.

Sacramento, Calif. – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is implementing an emergency program to divert high river flows away from flood-prone Central Valley communities and into groundwater recharge basins. DWR is working with local agencies and equipment vendors to provide funding and secure much-needed temporary diversion equipment, including pumps and siphons, and will support their deployment by local agencies.

The first set of temporary pumps and siphons were deployed by Fresno Irrigation District on April 25, as seen in this video . The district is reducing downstream flood impacts in the Tulare Lake Region and expanding groundwater recharge efforts by diverting water from Kings River reaches to existing recharge facilities or working agricultural lands.

Here’s more information on how much water these pumps will divert:

The pumps being deployed are equipped with flow meters and range in diversion capacity from 5 to 50 cubic-feet per second (cfs) of water from high-flow rivers. One cfs is equivalent to a basketball-sized quantity of water passing every second. A […]

Full article: water.ca.gov

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